Petitioner Alexandre Koudriachov (petitioner or appellant) seeks review of a March 26, 2003 decision and order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board), denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. In re Koudriachova, No. A 70 652 782 (B.I.A. Mar. 26, 2003), aff'g No. A 70 652 782 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Feb. 22, 1999).
The BIA, in a nonpreeedential decision by a single member of the Board, dismissed petitioner’s appeal because it found he had failed to show that he had been persecuted, or that he had a well-founded fear of future persecution, on account of any of the grounds protected by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Koud-riachov also seeks review of the BIA’s December 12, 2003 order denying his motion to reopen its March 26, 2003 decision. In re Koudriachova, No. A 70 652 782 (B.I.A. Dec. 12, 2003).
Because the BIA’s March 26, 2003 decision dismissing petitioner’s appeal contains significant ambiguities and potential misunderstandings of the relevant legal standards, we grant the petition for review and remand to the BIA for additional investigation or explanation. We dismiss petitioner’s motion to reopen the December 12, 2003 order of the BIA as moot.
BACKGROUND
The BIA held that Koudriachov was ineligible for asylum even if his testimony before the immigration judge (IJ) and in his asylum application was wholly credible. Consequently, for purposes of this appeal, we accept petitioner’s account of the events leading up to his application for asylum as truthful and accurate.
See Yan Chen v. Gonzales,
Koudriachov is a native of the former United Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Union or USSR). In his testimony before the IJ, petitioner provided a harrowing and at times brutal account of his experiences in the Soviet military and as a neophyte Russian intelligence agent. His encounters with the Soviet military began when he was 18 and, as part of a period of mandatory military service, he was drafted into the US$R Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). Petitioner explained that the MVD was not a part of the regular Soviet army, but rather comprised a special group of troops responsible for guarding secret military objects and locations, controlling riots in prisons and student towns, and fulfilling special assignments relating to terrorism and saboteur groups. To prepare MVD soldiers for their unique responsibilities, they were given extensive physical, psychological, and ideological conditioning. Koudriachov found objectionable many aspects of the MVD training program and operations. In particular, he believes it morally wrong that convicted criminals were brought to the MVD base so that soldiers could practice combat techniques on them. Partially as a result of his moral misgivings regarding these practices, Koudriachov resolved not to pursue a military career.
He completed his term of military service in 1983 and subsequently enrolled at the Leningrad Institute of Meteorology (Institute) in what is now the City of St. Petersburg. Following his participation in an international student festival, Koudria-chov was summoned to the regional headquarters of the Komsomol, the youth wing of the Communist Party. There he met with a Komsomol official who ordered him to write reports on his interactions with foreigners. Koudriachov objected to writing such reports, but agreed to do it after being threatened with expulsion from the Institute. The purpose of the reports was *259 never explained, though petitioner suspected they were used to obtain personal information about foreigners for the purpose of blackmailing them. He believes he was selected for this task because of his previous training with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In his third year at the Institute Koud-riachov was ordered to report to an address, No. 4 Liteynyi, which was known to be the headquarters of the KGB Intelligence Service in Leningrad (St. Peters-burg). There he met an individual referred to as Vitaly Sergeyevich. There is some confusion in the record as to whether Sergeyevich contacted Koudriachov on behalf of the MVD or the KGB. We will refer to the agency as the KGB for purposes of this opinion without resolving this factual question.
Sergeyevich became Koudriachov’s contact within the KGB. In their initial meeting, Sergeyevich informed the petitioner that he had been selected to work as a spy for the Soviet government and that he would eventually be attending a special school in Moscow to prepare him for this work. Koudriachov had no desire to become a KGB agent but realized he had no choice.
After graduating from the Meteorology Institute in 1989, petitioner received an assignment from Sergeyevich to begin work at a factory that employed many foreign specialists. Koudriachov was told that he would work there for a few years before attending spy school. Petitioner testified that throughout his employment at the factory he met regularly with Ser-geyevich to report technical and personal information he had obtained from his coworkers. While Koudriachov thought it immoral to betray his co-workers in this way, he continued to divulge the information because Sergeyevich threatened him by saying he would be drafted into the army or subject to violence were he to refuse.
As the date for petitioner’s departure to spy school drew near, he resolved to defect from the KGB and flee with his family to the United States. In preparation for this momentous step, Koudriachov tried to distance himself from Sergeyevich’s surveillance by moving to a different address in St. Petersburg. However, very soon after he moved, he was attacked in the street by two men who Koudriachov believes were sent by Sergeyevich. Indeed, the day after the attack, the petitioner was summoned to Sergeyevich’s office and asked about his change of residence.
On September 20,1992 Koudriachov and his family entered the United States on visitor visas. In 1998 Koudriachov’s wife, Elena, applied for asylum and withholding of removal. Koudriachov was selected for a Diversity Visa in April 1998 and became eligible for adjustment of status to legal permanent resident. Once he realized that his adjustment application required him to request that the Russian government reissue or register his passport, however, Koudriachov decided that he could not pursue his adjustment application and had to pursue an asylum claim instead. The IJ allowed Koudriachov to substitute his asylum application for that of his wife’s on October 28,1998.
On February 22, 1999 the IJ rejected the petitioner’s application for asylum and withholding of removal, finding that he was not credible. Koudriachov appealed the decision to the BIA. On March 26, 2008 the BIA dismissed the appeal. The BIA assumed the petitioner was credible, but found he had nonetheless failed to establish that he was persecuted or fears persecution on account of any ground protected under the INA. Ninety days later, petitioner filed a timely motion to reopen with the BIA in which he offered new evidence in *260 the form of an expert affidavit of a former KGB intelligence officer, Yuri Shvets, and, for the first time, requested relief under CAT. On December 12, 2003 the BIA denied the motion to reopen. Koudriachov now petitions for review of the BIA’s dismissal of his appeal from the IJ’s February 22, 1999 decision and the BIA’s denial of his motion to reopen. We grant the petition in part, and dismiss in part.
DISCUSSION
I Overview of Applicable Law
Where, as here, the BIA does not adopt the IJ’s decision to any extent, we review only the decision of the BIA.
See Chen v. Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Servs.,
To qualify as a “refugee,” an asylum applicant must establish that he or she has been persecuted in the past, or has a well-founded fear of persecution in the future, on any one of five statutorily protected grounds.
See Edimo-Doualla v. Gonzales,
II Membership in a Particular Social Group
A. General Principles
We have observed that of the five grounds protected under the INA, membership in a “particular social group” is the least well-defined on its face.
See Hong Ying Gao v. Gonzales,
B. BIA’s Test In Matter of Acosta
In 1985, the BIA undertook to clarify the meaning of the phrase particular social group in the seminal decision of
Matter of Acosta,
19 I.
&
N. Dec. 211, 232-34 (BIA 1985),
overruled in part on other grounds by INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca,
Recently, in In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 951 (BIA 2006), the BIA reaffirmed the Acosta test and provided further clarification regarding its proper application. See id. at 955-61. It observed that Acosta does not require “a voluntary associational relationship among group members” nor does it require an element of “cohesiveness or homogeneity among group members.” Id. at 956-57. However, a group’s “visibility”—meaning the extent to which mem- bers of society perceive those with the relevant characteristic as members of a social group—-is a factor in determining whether it constitutes a particular social group under the INA. Id. at 957, 959-60. With regard to groups
united by some shared past experience, In re C-A- reiter- ated that shared past experiences do con- stitute an immutable characteristic be- cause a past experience cannot be undone. See id. at 958; see also Matter of Fuentes, 19 I. & N. Dec. 658, 662 (BIA 1988) (stat- ing that an applicant’s status “as a former member of the national police” was “in fact an immutable characteristic” that could serve as the basis of a particular social group). Yet, not all applicants who can point to membership in some group united by a shared past experience will qualify for asylum. Rather, an asylum applicant’s status as a member of a particular social group—and not some other factor—must be the central reason why that individual is targeted for persecution. Thus, the BIA indicated that an individual who is target- ed due to her status as a former police officer may be eligible for asylum as a member of the particular social group of former police officers. See In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 958-59; see also Matter of Fuentes, 19 I. & N. Dec. at 662. But, a former police officer singled out for repri- sal because of her role in disrupting particular criminal activity would likely not be eligible for asylum. In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 959. In the second scenario, the persecution the applicant fears is not a result simply of her status as a former police officer, but rather is a result occa- police officer, but rather is a result occa *262 sioned by other factors more specific to the particular applicant.
In sum, the BIA has adopted a broad definition of particular social group, one that encompasses groups united by a shared past experience. Nonetheless, in determining whether an applicant ultimately qualifies for asylum, courts must examine closely whether the persecution the applicant fears derives primarily from his or her status as a member of that particular social group or whether it derives primarily from some other factor.
C. BIA’s Test is Reasonable
The BIA’s interpretation of the ambiguous phrase particular social group is reasonable and merits our deference under
Chevron. See Hong Ying Gao,
D. Acosta Test Applied to the Present Case
We analyze now whether the BIA correctly applied the law in this case by looking at whether the BIA’s decision here was compatible with its own reasonable and precedential decision in Acosta. Here, the BIA concluded that Koudriachov did not belong to a particular social group because the evidence did not establish that defected KGB agents maintain “any associational relationship” or share “any recognizable and discrete characteristic.” While the basis of the BIA’s holding is somewhat unclear, it appears that the BIA may have misapplied its own Acosta test in reaching this determination. The Board’s observa *263 tion that Koudriachov presented no evidence that defected KGB agents associate with one another is correct; however, it is also not on point. No such associational relationship is required under Acosta. As the BIA recently clarified in In re C-A-: “Under Acosta, we do not require a ‘voluntary associational relationship’ among group members.” In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 956-57.
The Board also noted that the group of defected KGB agents lack “any recognizable and discrete characteristic” but failed to explain why the shared past experience of having served in and defected from the KGB does not constitute such a characteristic. Under Acosta and In re C-A-, it is clear that a shared past experience, such as prior military leadership, can be the type of immutable characteristic that will characterize a particular social group. See Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. at 233 (listing a “shared past experience such as former military leadership” as an example of a “shared characteristic” that unites a particular social group); In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 958. There is no additional requirement that members of a group share an “element of ‘cohesiveness’ or homogeneity.” In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 957.
It is not our task to determine, in the first instance, whether the group of defected KGB agents constitute a particular social group. Rather, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s mandate in
Gonzales v. Thomas,
Importantly, if the BIA finds that defected KGB agents do constitute a particular social group under the INA, that alone will not establish Koudriachov’s eligibility for asylum. Rather, petitioner must establish two additional elements: (1) that he has a well-founded fear of persecution, and; (2) that he is a target of persecution primarily on account of his status as a member of the group of defected KGB agents and not on account of some other factor. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A); see also In re C-A-, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 958-59.
Ill Persecution on the Basis of a Political Opinion
The Board also found appellant had failed to demonstrate that he has a reasonable fear of persecution on account of a political opinion. To establish persecution on account of a political opinion, an asylum applicant must show that the persecution arises from his or her own actual or imputed political opinion.
See INS v. Elias-Zacarias,
As noted, we have adopted the widely endorsed proposition that “an imputed political opinion, whether correctly or incorrectly attributed, can constitute a ground of political persecution within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
Chun Gao,
In this case, the BIA ruled as follows:
Although the respondent testified that [Sergeyevich] believed erroneously that he wanted to defect, nothing in the respondent’s testimony revealed that [Ser-geyevich] attributed any political opinion to the respondent’s desire. Consequently, the respondent failed to establish that he held a political opinion or that one was imputed to him. For that reason, the respondent failed to establish a nexus between the harm he suffered and his political opinion and thereby failed to establish eligibility for relief on the basis of his political opinion.
From this language, it appears the Board may have inappropriately limited its analysis to the question of whether Koudriachov was persecuted, while in Russia, on account of his political opinion. This is not the claim petitioner makes. Koudriachov has consistently maintained that he will be persecuted if he returns to Russia because the authorities will view his defection from the KGB as a sign of disloyalty to the established regime. He explained: “[T]hese people don’t forgive the ones who defect. They consider them traitors to their mother land.”
Moreover, the BIA’s conclusion that nothing in petitioner’s testimony demonstrated that Sergeyevich attributed any political opinion to Koudriachov’s desire to defect suggests that it focused only on whether Sergeyevich imputed a political opinion to petitioner. Koudriachov’s claim, however, is not that narrow. He does not aver that his fear of persecution is limited to Sergeyevich; rather, Koudriachov fears that, if returned to Russia, other government actors will subject him to persecution on account of the adverse political opinion they will impute to him. Consequently, we must remand this case for the additional purpose of allowing the Board to determine whether Koudriachov has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of any political opinion that may be imputed to him because of his defection.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we grant the petition for review and remand this case to the BIA for additional explanation and investigation into (1) whether the group of defected KGB agents constitute a particular social group under the INA and whether petitioner has a well-founded fear of future persecution based on his membership in such a group, and (2) whether the petitioner has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of any political opinions that may be imputed to him as a result of his defection. The petition for review of the BIA’s December 12, 2003 decision denying the motion to reopen is dismissed as moot.
*265 Petition granted in part, and dismissed ■in part.